Draft-gear.



PATENTED JULY 3G, 1907.

Z uw GRDWEM BRAFT GEAR APPLIOATION FILED mm1?. wos.

hihihihi@ raarsivr ersten.

@Anas oAnDwnLnor oHrcAoo, rLLrNors.

DRAFT-GEAR.

No, sereno.

Specification of Letters Patentr Applioationjiled January 1908. SerialNo. 296,576.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, JAMES It. CAnnwnLL, a citizen ol the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of- Cool( and State o Illinois. haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Draft-Gear, of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact d oscription,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to friction draft gear employed in railway service,and is of particular utility in connection with that class of frictiondra-ft gear employing follower plates and inwhich friction membersextending longitudinally of the gear are interposed between` thefollower plates, and has for its object the provision of an 'improvedconstruction whereby the relative movements of the follower plates maybe limited by their direct interaction and independently of the saidfriction elements of the gear, whereby said friction el ements areprevented from' injuring the follower plates andare themselves guardedfrom injury by the follower! plates.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the follower plates arepocketed and each contains a plu rality of triangular friction blocks,the friction elements extending into the follower plates and therehaving cooperative relation with the triangular friction blocks incombination with springrnechanism adapted to resist the movements ofthe,follower plates. The sid cs'o'l the pocketed follower plates, preferablythe top and bottom sides, are extend ed toward each other to such anextent that the follower plates meet before the friction elepockets ofthe follower plates face each other and that the end walls spoken ofhitherto are at the endsv of thc gear. y v

While I desir-ably employ a plurality of longitudinally disposedfriction members, I do not wish. to be limited' to the number offriction members employed;

The spring mechanism that enters into the preferred embodiment of myinvention includes a rod extending transversely through the sills andthrough the longitudinally disposed friction elements and springrmechanism upon the exterior' ofthe sills with which said rod coperates.

.as will appear. When a push is exerted upon the I will explain myinvention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawing,illustrating the preferred embodiment thereof, in which4 Figure l is aplan View, partially in section, cfs-aid embodiment. Fig. 2 is asectional view on line 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3of Fig. l. Figs. lland 5 are perspective views takenin differentdirections of one of the follower plates.

Like parts are indicated by similar characterspf reference throughoutthe different figures.

The sills a a may be of any well known or suitable construction and mayVbe united. by any suitable means, a strut b being,r partially indicatedforth'e purpose of this union. A plate f is disposed'beneath and isattached to the sills, this plate being depressed at its central portionand raisedfon each side of the central portion. Tlie openings ol' thepeckets j h directly face each other. The vertical end Walls l: l of thefollower plates are at the longitudinal ends of the friction gear- Iing, the yoke m surrounding the follower plates and engaging ribbedportions thereof, said yoke being attached to the shank o of the couplerbar.

When a pull is exerted upon the coupler the follower plate h remains inplace with respect to the yoke, the two plates g 7l beingr movedrelatively toward each other,

coupler the plate g is maintained in position with respect to thecoupler yoke with like results. The stops gl attached to the sills serveto engage the clelment g to prevent longitudinal movements of saidelement when a pull is exerted upon the coupler. S5

The stops h1, also secured to the sills, engage the ole- -ment h toprevent the same from moving longitudinally when a push is exerted uponthe coupler.

The pocketed follower plates g h carry lelements g2 h2 that arepreferably provided with friction surfaces that incline toward thecenter ofthe structure and which .coperate with correspondingly inclinedf rfaces provided upon the friction blocks q q that are designed totravel transversely of the sills. The elements g2 h2 areldesirably loosewith respect to the .follower plates and are preferably triangular inplan, therelboing,r preferably two triangular blocks yfor each followerplate as indicated, in which case 'I desirably employ a supplementalfriction block or member ql which ,is provided withinclind frictionsurfaces that engage the adjacent friction surfaces upon each setoftriangular friction blocks. The .friction blocks or memwithcoiled-springs s s that engage attheir inner. ends .castings t `i `thatare vdesirably separately formed,V with respect-to the blocks qvqforutility and convenience in assernblge and construction, the castings t tor block mechanism passing through holes in the sills into engagementwitli \t',he blocks. It will be seen that the rod r and the `@prings .sare 'placed transversely oi the sills and that said springs acttransversely el the sills7 When the ineinher h is moved forward upon a.sutil; cient pull upon the shank ol` the coupler and when the member yis moved re-nwardly upon a suiicient push upon the shank of the coupler,the blocks (fare moved apart'. against the force of the springs s swhich are proportioned to offer the proper resistance to the relativemotion between the elements g h for the purpose of thergearing, thesprings s effecting the restoration of the parts to ltheir normalpositions when normal strain upon the shank of the coupler has beenrestored.

The top and bottom sides oi the pocketed follower plates are desirahlyof equal length and extend inward ly a sull'icient distance to preventany ofthe longitudinally disposed elements q q ql from comingr intocontact with the vertical end walls of the elements g ll, the cmnbinedlengths oi the portions of the top Walls projectii'ig heyond thevertical end walls ot' the cle* ments y h and also the combined lengthsof similar portions o1` the bottoni wallsy exceedingr the length of theelements q (l f/l. in thisI way the'comhinet'l clearance affordedheter-en the rigid friction members and the follower plaies is greaterthan the relative travel hetween the folltnver plates. By thisconstruction not only is protection afforded to the follower plates andthe friction members, but the structure may be made lighter as aconsequence ol' the protection afforded. l do not' wish to oe limited tothe presence of this clearance, however.

As indicated, the sills are provided with oblong recesses y, midevaybetween the ends ol which the bolt or rod r is normally disposed, thesaid rod and .springs s heingr pushed or pulled longitudinally el' thesills toward one end or the other of said slots, according to thedirection oi movement oi' the coupler yoke, the rate oi' travel oi therod and springs in the constriirtion shown being approximately one-halfoi the rate of h movement; of the coupler yoke.

While l. have herein shown and particularly described the preierredembodiment oi my invention, I do' not wish to be limited te the precisedetails of construction showin but,

Having thus described my invention, claim es new ,and desire to secureby Letters-Patent the iollowing:

l. A friction draft gear including a rigid friction piodncing portieriand pocketed follower plates having said portion interposed between thesame and entering the .pockets thereof. said follower plates beingadapted for abutment against each other in operation of the gear, saidfriction producing portion including a rigid member having,r clearancewith respect to the follower plates greater than the relative travelbetween the plates.

2. A friction draft gear including,r a rigid friction producinc, portionund pocketcd follower plates having,y Suid portion interposed betweenthe same and entering,r the pockets thereof. said follower plates beingadapted for abutment against each other in operation of the gear, saidfriction prodnciimr portion having clearance with respect to thi`follower plates grenier than the relative travel between the plates.

Si. friction draft gear including a rigid friction proportion interposed-between the same and entering the pockets thereof, said follower platesbeing adapted for abutment against each other in operation ol the geur.

L A friction draft iremincluiling pocketed follower plates, and a rigidfriction producing portion interposed between and entering said pocketedfollower plates, said t'riclion producing portion including :i rigidmember extending between the follower plates and havin;y clearance withrespect', to the follower plates greater than the relativi` travelbetween the follower plates.

A friction dratt e'ca'r including.; pocket'ed follower plates, and arigid friction producing portion entering the pockets oi' the followerplates, said friction producing,r portion having clearance with respectto the following plates grenier than the relative travel between theplates.

ln witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my naine this 15th day ol'.lannaiv A. li., 1906.

JAMES lt. tAlllHYlflLL.

Witnesses z dnt-inf.: portion and pocketcd follower plates having said-

